WHCD: Little Reason to Party

President Barack Obama is shown on a screen as he speaks during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington on May 3, 2014. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)

REUTERS

I don’t know exactly when the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner jumped the shark. Maybe it was the first year a news organization rented an embassy for a lavish after-party, or when the dinner evolved into four days of events and schmoozing, or when the competition among news organizations for celebrity guests became an all-out arms race.

Despite the millions spent and the dinner’s self-congratulatory and self-obsessed tone, in recent years it’s had a decidedly fin de siècle quality. Americans trust the media even less than they do the political
leaders who have brought them governmental dysfunction and gridlock. Many news organizations are struggling to remain relevant. There really isn’t much reason to party.

President Barack Obama was sufficiently self-deprecating on Saturday, as well as funnier than the comic-actor picked to entertain, Joel McHale. The president quipped that Mr. McHale, as someone who plays a preening, self-obsessed narcissistic character on television, should feel right at home. It’s all about celebrities who may or may not follow the news getting to be in a room with the president, and reporters and politicians – who frequently get to see the president — having a chance to take selfies with celebrities.

On Saturday, C-SPAN televised more than five hours of dinner-related events, including celebrity arrivals and departures. Matthew Morrison, who plays the teacher on “Glee,” was asked where he gets his news. His response? ESPN.

Linda Killian is a journalist and senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. Her most recent book is “The Swing Vote: The Untapped Power of Independents.” She is on Twitter: @lindajkillian.

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